


Falling

by Iamthetwickster



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-07
Updated: 2018-02-07
Packaged: 2019-03-15 05:55:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13606962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iamthetwickster/pseuds/Iamthetwickster
Summary: You’re a survivor living in Alexandria. You’re a nervous and reserved person and you struggle to deal with emotions, Daryl Dixon doesn’t help with these matters.





	Falling

Alexandria had been your safe haven for the last 6 months. After losing everything you ever loved in life and eventually giving up, Rick and his group had found you and brought you back with them. You owed each of them your life and you would never forget it.

You were naturally a nervous person, not talking to people with much confidence unless you felt confident around them. The only people who had really had the joy of having a full conversation of you was Michonne and Carol, you’d always trusted women more than men. Even before everything went to shit. But the person who made you the most uncomfortable in the entire place was that greasy redneck.

Unfortunately for you, your house was situated right across from Daryl’s. Everytime you left your house you’d have to see the man sat on his stairs, cigarette between his lips. You’d be lying if you said you weren’t attracted to him at all. But that was likely the reason why he intimidated you so much. On top of that, he barely spoke. In fact you could count three sentences you had heard him say in the past 6 months, none of them said to you. He probably didn’t even know you existed, let alone know your name. But you knew him and he was all you would think about when you lay awake at night, staring at the ceiling.  

It was July and the heat was sweltering. It hadn’t been this hot in Virginia in years, it was as if nature had decided the ongoing zombie apocalypse wasn’t enough and wanted to add another ‘fuck you’ to the pile of shit that was everybody’s life. Everybody was in shorts and tank tops, going about their usual days as much as they could. You had recently been to collect some food from the bank for the house you shared with your friend so that you could make something for supper tonight. You had an old laundry basket that you had filled with certain cans of food and some other choice items. It was starting to get pretty heavy as the midday sun burnt its way down to the exposed skin on your arms and legs and the walk from the food bank to your house was a bit of a stretch. You were almost there, two houses away from your own when you heard a gruff sounding grunt coming from an open garage. You could hear the quiet clash of metal coming from inside and as you curiosity got the better of you, you walked a little closer to the house to see what was causing the sound. 

Nothing could have prepared you for what you saw, catching an eyeful of a certain rednecks back. You slowed your strides down to sneak a look, right in the middle of the road. Daryl had his garage door open and was working on his motorcycle. He had zero fabric covering his torso and god did you will yourself to move or look away but you couldn’t. Before you could think you were falling and tins were clattering to the ground, making an outrageously loud noise.

It took you a few moments to come back to the world from your little daydream. You drew your knees together, kneeling in the street as you hurried to pile tin after tin back into the old laundry basket. You knew full well that Daryl would have heard the commotion but you chose to pretend he wasn’t there. You clambered to your feet, picking up the basket and briskly walking towards your house, deciding to never leave the building again for anything. Ever.

You ran up the steps and slammed the front door behind you, panting as you rested your back against the wood frame. Your friend was sat on a chair in the living room giving you a look of complete confusion.

“What happened to you?” They asked you, rising to their feet to come and take the basket from you. You took a few deep breaths before walking into the kitchen, starting to put the items you’d got away in the cupboards. “You’ve got scrapes on your arm, you alright?” They asked you again. You opened your mouth to speak when a hard knock rang through the hall. Your friend gave you a look and moved to answer the door, not expecting to see a shirtless Daryl stood on your porch.

“Uh….can I help you?” Your friend was as lost as you upon seeing him there.

“Yeah I….just came to see if your friend was alrite….saw her fall over.” Daryl stood there with sweat still dripping down his neck and his hair sticking to his forehead. He had the same scowl he always wore. You started to think quickly about your options. You could answer him and confront your embarrassment, or you could hide and pretend you weren’t there at all.

Before you could decide your now ex-friend moved aside letting Daryl see you in the kitchen with a bright red face. You swallowed hard making direct eye contact with the rather large looking man.

“Hey.” Daryl spoke in his gruff southern accent. “You okay? You took quite the tumble before. I can take a look if you want?” The man stepped into the house as he was speaking to you, slowly taking a few steps towards you.

“I’m good!” You blurted out before even thinking over his request. You started to walk backwards, further away from him.

“Ya sure? I can see from here you got a few good grazes in.” He stopped moving towards you thank god.

“I’m…..i’m fine it was just…..I tripped is all. I’m thinking we should remove all sidewalks so I can’t trip up them again in the future.” You attempted to soothe the tension in the room by making a bit of a joke, also trying to convince him that you were fine.

“A’right.” He says, looking you up and down. As the tension threatened to come back your friends voice interrupted.

“I think her ego took most of the damage, Daryl. She’ll be fine.”  Your friend offered him a sweet smile, which he responded to with a grunt.  

“See ya around, Y/N…” You froze as you heard your name leave his mouth. He knew your name. How did Daryl Dixon know your name? It took you about 5 minutes in total to actually move from where you were leaning on the kitchen counter. Daryl had left moments ago but you were still processing everything he said, as well as processing how god damn good he looked without a shirt.

“Hey, Y/N….so when you pass the law to remove sidewalks, I’m gonna pass another law that says he’s no longer allowed to wear a shirt.”

“Oh god, it’s the apocalypse and I still can’t get a break from liking guys. Why do I always pick the guys outta my league?” It was more of a rhetorical question but your friend answered anyway.

“Because he’s gorgeous and you have a type for the rough and ready kind of men.”

“I can’t believe he did that….I can’t believe he came in and came up to me I thought I was gonna explode.” You were panicking and talking a thousand words a minute, trying to figure out what just happened. All the while your friend listened and laughed at your mess of a life.

“He seemed keen, you should go ask him out.”

“Excuse me? Me? Ask ‘Mr. Shirtless, hot motorcycle guy’ out? That’s never gonna happen. He’s stick an arrow between my eyes.” After arguing with your friend over whether or not you should try to grab Daryl’s attention you won, your friend giving up with your stubbornness. You were just too nervous to deal with guys, you always had been.

Every day was pretty much the same for you now. You left the house to do the jobs you were asked to do or offered to partake in, but most of all, you avoided Daryl like he was the black plague. You didn’t want somebody like him figuring out that you kind of liked him. And you didn’t trust your own reactions to anything he did or said, so not going near him was the only option you could think of.  

It’d had been nearly two weeks since your little embarrassing stunt in front of the redneck and you were still full of nerves when somebody so much as mentioned his name in your presence.

After the two weeks had passed you were starting to feel a bit better about the whole situation you’d created. That was, until he spotted you one warm afternoon. You could have been out of there in moments, straight into your house away from him but he had spotted you first and you hadn’t noticed he was watching you until he suddenly appeared in front of you.

“Ya avoiding me.” You froze. He was inches away from your face and his face was full of accusation. You couldn’t think of something to say as fast as you wanted to so all that left your mouth was a small squeak which took confused Daryl if the look he gave you was anything to go on.

“No…” This was all you could say, denying you had any idea what he was talking about. The way his chest was rising behind that leather vest of his was extremely distracting and you really didn’t want to think about his body whilst he was right in front of you like this. After a few moments passed he opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted when somebody called his name from behind him. You recognised the voice belonged to Rick and knew that you had just been saved, even if he didn’t know he was doing it. Daryl bellowed back to him without looking away from you.

“I’m not done.” He promised, before rushing away from you and leaving you so you could finally breathe.

It was bordering on the early hours of the morning as you quietly tiptoed out of your house to get some fresh air. It was total madness that you felt safer at night than you did in the day, when everything was silent and lifeless. You could finally breathe properly. You decided to take a short walk, to enjoy the silence of the late night. Making your way down the stairs as quiet as you could you took a left turn, beginning to drag your feet along the road as you enjoyed your slow stroll through the old housing estate. It was after a few minutes and several houses you’d passed that you suddenly felt the hair on your arms stand on end and you felt as though you were being watched. You stopped, turning around to see if you could spot what your natural instinct had sensed before you…but you saw nothing. You continued to walk again, but you still felt as though you were being watched.  That was when you spotted it. The unmistakable red bud of a cigarette, glowing from a gap between two buildings. You knew full well that only one person other than the guards would be up at this hour. You think carefully about whether you should turn back and go home, but you decide to continue walking, ignoring Daryl’s presence as he watches you.

Finally you’re making your way back home, biding your time and looking up to the stars as you walk. Now that the world had ended and all of the light pollution had disappeared with it, the stars were brighter than ever. That was the silver lining for you. You continued walking when a voice came from behind you, loud and rough.

“Ya should look where ya going, might trip again.” It was Daryl. You weren’t sure if he was trying to make a joke or if he had said it with a tone of resentment in his voice. You simply stood and looked at him. You hated the way he made you freeze. You just couldn’t speak when he was around. And you certainly did not trust your treacherous feet to get you to safety, they had a habit of embarrassing you.

The redneck stood in front of you with a bland expression on his face, just watching you as you stared right back. After a little while he breathed in deeply.

“Ya talk less than me.” He announced, standing up straight and stepping towards you. “An’ you talk lots around everyone else.” He tilted his head to the side as if he was trying to figure you out. This was it, you thought. He knows that you like him. He was gonna make fun of you and you were going to have to stay in your bedroom forever. “Why do ya hate me?” He whispers, instantly biting down on his bottom lip, as if he was stopping himself from vomiting more words your way. And then you finally realised just how broken this man was. You’d been avoiding him to protect your emotions, but you hadn’t thought about his own. Truth be told, you didn’t think your lack of presence in his life would affect him at all. You were staring at your feet, the gears working in your head as you thought of what to say to him.

You had taken too long to respond and Daryl had stormed off away from you, yelling “Forget it” as he left. Something in you snapped and you knew you had to sort this out now. You took off after him, hot on his heels.

“D-Daryl wait…..” You begged, receiving a scoff in response. He retreated into his house before you could begin to apologise to him….leaving you stood in the dark alone.

The next morning you decided you wanted to finish this, so you got dressed and stormed over to him. You found him sat on the bottom of his stairs, smoking again.

You can’t think of anything to say as he gazes up at you. He’s rough, dark and intimidating. His broad shoulders are rising and falling quickly which scares you all the more. You want to tell him you’re sorry and that you love him. But you can’t say it, for fear of being rejected by him. So instead you look at your feet for a few moments thinking about what you’re going to say now you’re stood in front of him. “….Can…..can I go hunting with you…..some time….maybe….” You immediately regret saying it as his expression turns to one of disgust. But he was right. It was stupid of you to ask something like that. “I-sorry…it was a stupid idea….nevermind….” You can’t look at him, his blue eyes burning into your skull. You let out a sigh and take your leave, scurrying back towards your own house, but as you do you feel the fabric covering your shoulder move as Daryl tugs you to face him. He’s just a few inches away from you, looking down with that scowl of his. If it were possible you would turn into a human puddle right now, but unfortunately that wasn’t going to happen. He was being incredibly odd the way he was looking at you, he was staring into your eyes for what felt like hours, as if he was searching for something.

“Can’t.” One word, that’s all he could muster.

“What?” You ask him as he finally drops his hand from your shoulder.

“Can’t take you out there……s'dangerous. Wouldn’ want you ’t get hurt.” He offers you a somewhat sympathetic look.

“I can take care of myself, I know how to kill a walker.” His jaw clenches and he lets out an exasperated sigh. “Said no…..”. He turns around, struggling to be so close to another person for as long as he just has been. He begins to walk away.

You’re so pissed off now, he has no right to keep you locked inside Alexandria like some child. You walk towards him, grabbing his large hand in yours and you yank him towards you. He’s livid when you see his face, nobody touches him, not ever.

“I just want to help!” You yell, right into his face. A few strands of his long greasy hair fall over his eyes as his jaw twitches again.

“No.” He says through gritted teeth, glaring daggers into you.

“Why the fuck not, daryl?!” You almost scream at him.

“Cause I can’t fuckin’ lose ya!“ He screams back. Your eyes widen, Daryl’s face is in yours and he’s refusing to back off. He takes a deep breath finally, realising he may have scared you a little with his volume. “Sorry…..” He takes another moment, looking up to the sky as if looking for answers or a way out. “I don’t want ya anywhere near danger, Y/N. Not if I can help it.” Blue eyes look into yours again.

“….Why do you care about me?” It was more a question that wasn’t supposed to be spoken, but it slipped out in a whisper. He cocked his head to the side as if he had misheard what you’d just said, but the way he grabbed your hand and interlaced his long calloused fingers with your gentle ones proved that he heard you. You were very well aware that your face had gone bright red and the way his eyes bore into yours wasn’t helping you to hide it.

“Do ya like me?” Daryl asked, his voice soft for once. You furrowed your brows, looking up at him. He continues, speaking quietly and focusing all of his attention on your reaction to what he was saying to you. “Ya friend said you do.” You turned beet red. You trusted your friend with your life and they couldn’t even keep a tiny little secret to themselves. You were furious with them.

“….They……they told you….they told you what?” You let go of his hand, breathing frantically as you stumbled about in circles in front of him, panicking. “For fucks sake….” You muttered to yourself. You turned to him, hands flying up into the air. “I told them not to say anything!”

“It’s a’right, Y/N….” Daryl began to reassure you, but you interrupted him.

“It’s not alright! They promised…..I can’t deal with, emotions and guys and….god I’m gonna kill them……They knew full well!” You were rambling, staring at the floor as you let your frustrations out.

“Y/N, it’s a’right.” Daryl repeated.

“Would you stop saying that? It’s not alright! Why would it be a-” You let out a high pitched squeak as he crashed his lips into yours. You both would have toppled over if he hadn’t grabbed you and stopped you from stumbling backwards. It was the quickest kiss of your life, he seemed almost shy. His lips had left yours almost as soon as they had touched and all you could do was stand there in shock.  

“What……what was that for?” You’re trying to catch your breath as he watches you react. Daryl rolls his eyes.

“Just shut up.” He pushes his chest against yours and pulls your lips to his again, taking his time now and kissing you properly. Daryl is the complete opposite of what you’d expect from a redneck wrapped in leather. He was so gentle and caring. His arms snake their way down your arms until he takes your hands in his and he holds them there between the two of you. His thumbs gingerly stroke over your hands as he stands there, head lowered, still kissing you in the middle of the road.

When he finally breaks away he pushes his forehead against yours with his eyes closed, just taking in the moment. After several moments he moves, tugging at your hands he begins to guide you into his house, walking backwards with his eyes never leaving yours. This was when you realised something gut wrenching. You had never seen the man smile before, not an inch. But here he was, almost beaming at you. So you followed him into his house, letting him close the door behind you.


End file.
